


I Love You Too

by OctoberSkies



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Post-Trespasser, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 22:43:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5108297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OctoberSkies/pseuds/OctoberSkies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dorian is in grave trouble, and there is nothing the Inquisitor can do but refuse to say goodbye.</p>
<p>Short, post-trespasser drabble based off the angst prompt: “I just really need to have you here right now.” Dorian x Inquisitor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Love You Too

Normally, the blue glow from Dorian’s sending crystal would cause the Inquisitor’s heart to swell with joy, the light emanating from beneath his tunic his signal to drop whatever he was doing and turn his attention to his lover, hundreds of miles to the north.

Normally, the conversation would begin with a languid hello, hovering on the edge of a laugh, humming from the crystal’s surface as though Dorian was standing right in front of him, ready to take his chin in his deft fingers and steer him towards a kiss.

Normally, there would be a pause, so profound yet so comfortable, during which the two of them would just take a moment to listen to their lover’s breaths. Gentle inhalations, in and out, eventually giving way to a reticent chuckle as one of them broke the silence.

Normally, the words would flow with ease; like water over the smoothest river stones, trickling from one pool to the next.

But that day, it was different.

“…  _A… Amatus_?” Dorian’s voice was strained. Wavering. The single uttered word quiet and gasping for air, as though it was somehow in short supply. The Inquisitor immediately felt his heart seize in his chest, and he rushed from the war room, finding solace in the cold stone corridor. His hand shook as he drew the crystal out from beneath his shirt.

“Dorian - are you alright? What’s wrong?” He couldn’t keep the worry out of his voice, even if he tried. “Say something, please!”

A dry laugh, cracking at the edges, dragged itself from the glowing stone.

“It’s…  _ah_ … good to hear your voice. Wasn’t sure…” He sounded on the verge of sleep, his sentence slurring slightly as it dripped from his tongue. There was no sharpness to his voice – none of that charming wit that danced like a flame. It was flat. Defeated.

“Wasn’t sure…? Wasn’t sure  _what_ , Dorian?” When the Inquisitor did not receive an immediate reply, he continued hastily, his grip tightening on the stone as though a firmer grasp would somehow wring a reply from the man. “Come on - you’re scaring me!”

He heard Dorian swallow, but the sound was followed by a pained gasp, and the Inquisitor’s throat began to burn with mounting dread. Something was very wrong.

“… I don’t have much time. They’ll be back soon. Horrid sorts – wouldn’t…” he paused as his words choked into silence, but he managed to recover them with a shaky breath, “… wouldn’t want to invite  _them_  around for a dinner party.”

Even if Dorian had wanted to laugh at his own awful joke, he couldn’t muster it. The Inquisitor, too, missed the humour, his eyes wide and on the verge of panic as he began to anxiously pace the corridor. If he had another hand that wasn’t occupied holding the crystal, it would have been knotted in his hair.

“Where are you Dorian? Tell me, please! Leliana must have scouts in the area, we could—”

“— Amatus, I c—”

“—  _Don’t_  be a stubborn bastard now, damn it! Just  _tell me_! If you don’t have much time, say it fast!” His heart was beating at a million miles a second, leaping to his throat. He couldn’t stop himself – the sheer terror of possibly losing Dorian was blinding. Choking. It hurt like a physical blade, twisting in his chest. But what his lover said next stopped his frantic steps dead in their tracks.

“I… I don’t know where I am. I’m sorry.”

_I’m sorry_.

“W-What…?” The Inquisitor was on the verge of tears, but he choked them back, forcing himself to push forward. To keep Dorian talking for as long as he possible. He… he  _had_  to.

“I only just came to, I’m afraid… it’s… _dark_. Not much to go by.” Dorian’s breath hitched in a wince, as though he had tried to move and found the task insurmountable. “… ah… not a gentle lot, these ones.  _Personal_   _grudge_ , I’m thinking _._  Clearly… not interested in a ransom.”

“You don’t know that! Listen – you need to tell them about me, understand? Tell them that the Inquisition will—”

“— No, amatus. I can’t.” No matter how desperate, Dorian’s voice couldn’t rise above a hoarse whisper. The Inquisitor’s, however, cracked like a whip, pleading and commanding in equal part.

“Yes. Yes you  _can_! Damn it, Dorian – don’t do this!” The Inquisitor could feel the tears burning in his eyes, his ability to restrain them shattering in time with Dorian’s breath as it limped from the crystal. “For once just swallow your _bloody pride_ and let me help you!”

His frantic plea was met with silence _._ For a gut-wrenching moment, the Inquisitor feared he had lost contact with the man. The man he missed. The man who was tearing him apart.

The man he  _loved_.

A shaky breath.  _His own_. The Inquisitor held the stone close to his mouth in desperation. He didn’t know what else to do.

_“_ … _Dorian?”_ He could barely form the word with his trembling lips, but he made himself try. A long, painful pause followed. Then, a soft voice, whispered like a secret.

“I just… really need to have you here right now …” Dorian let out a weak, watery laugh, but the choking sound ended in a tight gasp of pain. “… this… this was the best I could do.”

“No… No, tell me what to do. Please,  just…  _tell me what I can do_ …” The Inquisitor had sunken to his knees, curled over the crystal as though by shielding the object with his body he could do the same for Dorian, all those miles away. He could hear it. What Dorian had been trying to bravely to hide.

He could hear his fear, trembling at the back of his breath. Dorian was  _afraid_.

“Dorian, please,  _anything_. There has to be something…”

“… There isn’t. I’m sorry, amatus. It… wasn’t meant to happen this way.” A trembling breath, hitching slightly at its peak. “I only hope…”

“… Hope what?” The tears ran freely down the Inquisitor’s face now as he fought and failed to keep himself together. Then, his body jerked as he heard faint sounds echoing from the crystal. Other voices, distant but there, growing louder with each passing breath. But before he could demand to know what was going on, Dorian spoke, his words trembling but resolute. Final.

“I only hope you can forgive me one day, amatus. I…  _I love you._ ”

“N-No! Dorian, wait! I—”

The crystal went dull. 


End file.
